How to Conduct Value-Based Hiring:
Leaders should consider the right candidate for the job strategically, when filling a role on their team. This is especially important during economic downturns when efficiency and quality of hire are emphasized. Traditionally, hiring for culture fit has been seen as the best way to ensure a candidate seamlessly integrates into a company. However, this approach focuses on fitting into the existing organization rather than supporting positive evolution.
How Can Culture Fit Hiring Create Bias and Lack of Diversity?
Instead of prioritizing culture fit, it’s time to shift towards hiring based on values fit. Hiring for culture fit can lead to bias and lack of diversity within teams. It relies on subjective assessments of likability and compatibility with the existing team, which leads to teams that are all the same and aren’t diverse. By adjusting the recruiting process to prioritize experience indicative of future success in the role, organizations can find the best talent regardless of background and increase diversity throughout the hiring funnel.
Diversity is crucial for building strong teams that drive business outcomes. Research shows that ethnically and culturally diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones in terms of profitability, with a 36% higher likelihood of outperforming them. Gender-diverse teams also have a 48% higher likelihood of outperformance.
Diverse teams are known to be more innovative and agile. By establishing hiring processes that assess both competencies and values, organizations can improve inclusivity while fostering diversity. Prioritizing not only how well a candidate fits into the existing culture, but also the unique values they can bring to enhance the team is essential.
How Can You Assess Values Fit in Hiring?
To ensure that an organization’s hiring process evaluates values fit effectively, interviewers need to analyze a candidate’s principles and standards at every stage of the interview. How can they do this? The key is to identify the skills that indicate success in the role and ask questions that assess those skills through the lens of the company’s values.
Determining which values matter most to the organization and finding candidates who align with those values is detrimental. Hiring managers should also ensure that each interviewer understands the importance of values fit in interviews and has the necessary resources to conduct them, such as predetermined questions and a scoring rubric. By asking questions that evaluate what candidates have done and how they have done it, organizations can ensure that their hires have the necessary experience, competency, and alignment with the values that lead to success within the organization.
Wondering how to develop a structured and effective values-fit interview process? These steps can make it easier:
Step 1: Identify the essential competencies and attributes that define an ideal candidate for the role.
Step 2: Define focus areas and assign specific interviewers to evaluate different competencies and attributes.
Step 3: Construct behavioral questions that allow candidates to showcase their skills and alignment with the company’s values.
Step 4: Establish a scoring rubric with clear criteria for evaluating candidate responses to behavioral questions.
Step 5: Emphasize the importance of objective ratings based on how well candidates demonstrate desired competencies and values during the interview, rather than personal opinions on job qualifications.
To get the best results, build stronger teams, and help employees succeed, leaders should focus on what a candidate can bring in terms of values. Instead of merely considering whether someone fits into the company culture, prioritize hiring individuals who align with the organization’s values. This approach increases the likelihood of long-term success for new hires, their teams, and the entire organization.
